Seeing that portrait of Caitlyn Jenner on the cover of Vanity Fair was great.
I think I've just found what--or, more precisely, who--I want to see next on the mag:
I know: It looks like a promo for a Baywatch sequel. I dare someone to make such a program--and make Shane Ortega the star of it.
He's one of the few transgender soldiers currently serving in the Army. He's served two combat tours in Iraq and another in Afghanistan, and is now a Chinook helicopter crew chief for the 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii.
But he's hanging on for dear life in the Army in spite of the rave reviews he's received. You see, his records identify him as female. Like nearly all other transgender soldiers, he's served in secret--until recently. With his record and the respect he's garnered, he felt he "had to be the one" to call attention to the situation of transgendered service members.
So, even though Ash Carter is assembling a working group that will, more than likely, establish guidelines to allow transgenders to serve in the Armed Forces, there is still the possiblity Ortega could be kicked out.
Being in the spotlight, he's following the Army's rules to a "T". That means, among other things, wearing the skirt and blouse--which barely fit him now--of the women's dress uniform on those occasions that call for it. It's "uncomfortable and humiliating", he says. But, he explains, "I have to prove a point. I'm doing everything they ask me to do."
Really...After three combat tours, what else can they ask of him? But whatever they ask, he'll do. And, hopefully, he won't have to do those things anymore.
I think I've just found what--or, more precisely, who--I want to see next on the mag:
I know: It looks like a promo for a Baywatch sequel. I dare someone to make such a program--and make Shane Ortega the star of it.
He's one of the few transgender soldiers currently serving in the Army. He's served two combat tours in Iraq and another in Afghanistan, and is now a Chinook helicopter crew chief for the 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii.
But he's hanging on for dear life in the Army in spite of the rave reviews he's received. You see, his records identify him as female. Like nearly all other transgender soldiers, he's served in secret--until recently. With his record and the respect he's garnered, he felt he "had to be the one" to call attention to the situation of transgendered service members.
So, even though Ash Carter is assembling a working group that will, more than likely, establish guidelines to allow transgenders to serve in the Armed Forces, there is still the possiblity Ortega could be kicked out.
Being in the spotlight, he's following the Army's rules to a "T". That means, among other things, wearing the skirt and blouse--which barely fit him now--of the women's dress uniform on those occasions that call for it. It's "uncomfortable and humiliating", he says. But, he explains, "I have to prove a point. I'm doing everything they ask me to do."
Really...After three combat tours, what else can they ask of him? But whatever they ask, he'll do. And, hopefully, he won't have to do those things anymore.
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